Daring Bakers Flourless Chocolate Hearts with Rose Ice Cream

Fortunately for me, and for my family, I made these tasty little cakes before I came down with the cold from Hell. Which then turned into bronchitis. You really don't want to know much more of the details.

But these little cakes were delicious! They were easy to make and super tasty. I made them in individual heart shaped silicon cupcake holders and got 15. The only problem was that I only had 12 little heart shaped cups. The last three ended up in my silicon cups with feet. I know. I should have taken a photo. But I was busy eating them.

I made Wendy's vanilla ice cream recipe, mostly because I got a little lazy and didn't feel like dealing with eggs. As a last minute addition I added a tablespoon of rosewater that I picked up last time I visited my mom. If you like the taste of eating roses this makes a pretty good ice cream too! I didn't want the ice cream to overpower the chocolate cakes so I molded little tiny ice cream hearts.

This was a fun one!

and here's the fine print!
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Now go check out the other Daring Bakers!

Lentils and Chorizo

Um, well I guess this isn't Legume Wednesday. It's more like Legume Friday... But really I made the lentils because I am so tired of listening to the news and hearing about how terrible the economy is. And I'm tired of unemployment being through the roof where I live and not being able to find a job. It's pretty depressing.

So I decided to revert back to the simple and delicious food I ate in college. Yes the cheap eats that I survived on for about 10 years. And NO I'm not talking about Ramen noodles which I hate with a burning hatred that I would rather literally starve to death than eat them again. Seriously the smell of them makes me gag. Ramen noodles are cheap, but they are far from delicious. I'm talking about lentils. Yummy in the tummy lentils.

The chorizo had been hanging out in the freezer for a while so I figured I might as well use it up. Then I sauteed up a bunch of veggies and added some cooked lentils and a can of tomatoes. It's cheap. It's delicious. It's filling. And it's just right for the economy right now. What more could you ask for? Perhaps something like my new and furry sous chef?

Her eyes are really brown, not glow in the dark creepy yellow....

Lentils and Chorizo
an original Shazamer recipe

1 cup dried lentils

4 cups water

2 links (about 6 ounces) fresh chorizo

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large stalk of celery, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can of petite diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Bring the water to boil in a saucepan. When the water is boiling add the lentils and continue to boil for about 13 more minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Meanwhile, cook the chorizo in a frying pan until it is no longer bright red and is cooked all the way through. Add the vegetables to the pan and saute in the rendered fat until they are tender. Turn off the heat and wait until the lentils are finished cooking.

Once the lentils finish cooking, drain them and add then to the pan with the chorizo and vegetables. Add the can of tomatoes and cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes to blend the flavors and reduce the tomato liquid. Turn off the heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

And I'm off to rolling on the floor with my dog!

Buffalo Wings

Now this is getting embarrassing. I have completely fallen off the blogging ball. Really I've completely stopped cooking. I don't have a good excuse even. My long term sub job ended on Tuesday (you can read more about it on my other blog). I've been a little bit blue, but really...

I did try Taco Bell for the first time since the early '90s though. It was pretty tasty, but I think I'm good for the next decade.

Fortunately, my loving husband has a poker game tonight. Which means that I actually cooked something. See we've been eating leftovers all week of this bean and ground beef and brown rice and tomato kind of slow cooker mushiness that wasn't anywhere near good enough to blog about. And there was so much of it (and it wasn't really all THAT bad) that I felt I shouldn't, with today's economy, just toss it. So when the Brain told me he was going to play cards tonight I ran to the next county to pick up some frozen chicken wings (that were on sale). And while he took a nap (because he was working late into last night on important legal documents) I steamed and baked and tossed these wonderfully delicious wings.

I love Good Eats. And I think Alton Brown is so appealing to my OCD and dorky ways. So last week I caught an episode where he made buffalo wings and printed out the recipe hoping I'd have an opportunity to make them. Alton's recipes rarely let me down. So even though they seem a little complicated to make, I hated to part with them and send them off to some hungry men who probably are going to inhale them in 3 minutes flat. Either that or they will be upstaged by some complicated and fancy wild bear tacos or something like that. I think it's better that I don't know exactly what goes on at these poker night events. Although the little bit that I hear sure is interesting!

Buffalo Wings

from Alton Brown

1 (4 pound) package frozen chicken wings, thawed

3 ounces unsalted butter

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup Frank's hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Place a soup pot with a steamer basket and 1 inch of water in the bottom over high heat. Cover and bring to a boil. Clean wings of any hanging pieces of skin or fat and place into the steamer basket. Steam for 10 minutes.

Line a sheet pan with paper towels and a cooling rack. Lay the wings on the rack and carefully pat dry. Refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter with the garlic. Add the hot sauce and salt and pour into a bowl big enough for all the wings. When the wings are done cooking, immediately toss in the hot sauce. Serve warm.

Trailer Park Beans

OK, I have been terrible at blogging. really really bad. But it's been a bad week overall really. We got the foot of snow that was, for the most part, expected. And they cancelled school. So I decided to check out the new Chinese restaurant in town. Unfortunately, I learned that although the Cadillac is a big heavy car that does well on slippery roads, it does not plow snow. I got the behemoth stuck in the driveway. So I called my friend to pick me up in what can best be described as a monster truck.

While waiting for her to arrive I decided that it would be a good idea to get the car all the way back into the driveway. In order to do that I had to shovel. SO my neighbor came over to help me and the two of us (and his little son) were all shoveling away when WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I went flying. I should explain here that I have a gravel driveway that we normally don't shovel and so the snow pack under the fresh foot of snow was pretty much ice.

So there I was sitting on my butt in a foot of snow with Wilma the Knee twisted behind me. Wilma the Knee apparently does not like flying and flailing and has been swollen and crunchy ever since. The rest of the day was spent with an ice pack and some electric stim. See if you have 3 knee surgeries they let you have all kinds of fun toys. Fortunately nothing is ripped, because yes, I've seen the doctor. The doctor should be naming a wing of his house after me. Apparently I knocked loose some scar tissue or irritated my arthritis or something like that. He prescribed me some great anti-inflammatory medicine and my knee is slowly starting to recover. Whew.

Life hasn't returned to normal though because shortly before seeing the doctor I must have been sneezed on by a high school kid and I have come down with the worst cold ever. The congestion is truly amazing. I'm starting to sound like Fran Drescher even.

Fortunately I made these beans. Yes, the only thing I've cooked all week. These beans are killer spicy. And delicious. And really you should try them. But you may want to cut down on the pickled jalapenos! They were originally called Drunken Beans and the recipe called for a dark Mexican beer. But I'm not fancy like that and all I had were Bud Light and Tequila. Which makes me feel less than upscale with my beans....

And the winners of the Big Blog Giveaway Part Deux are....

The cupcake towels, napkins and spatula go to teresa!

The finger spatula, band aids, and bookmarks go to Standing Still!

and the apron goes to Siri!

So ladies, email me (at the bottom right) your address and I will get them sent out! By the way, I've been asked where I found the band aids. I found them at Borders.

Drunk Beans

adapted from epicurious

1/2 pound bacon chopped

1 large white onion chopped

1 Tbsp oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

1 pound pinto beans that have soaked in water for 6 hours

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sliced jarred pickled jalapenos

12 ounce can of Bud Light

2 shots of Tequila

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.

In a frying pan, cook bacon, onion, oregano, and garlic over medium high heat until onion is browned slightly. Scrape the bacon mixture into a bean pot (or Dutch oven) and add beans, water, jalapeno, beer, and tequila. Stir to combine. Bake mixture in covered bean pot for 2 hours or until beans are soft. Stir in salt and brown sugar and bake for 10 minutes more without the lid.

Big Blog Giveaway (part deux!)

It happened again. I missed a week. I can explain though. I didn't cook. Well, not a lot anyway. I went out to dinner twice last week for my birthday. I made the trusty spaghetti standby one night when I got home late and didn't have anything prepared and roasted a chicken with just salt and pepper another night. I zipped through the Wendy's drive through last night at about quarter to 10 when I was finally heading home. (I had the worst baked potato I've ever eaten and they forgot to give me a fork. Next time I'm driving the mile across town to go through Burger King!) And then I was up in Michigan Saturday night for Girls' Game Night and really mostly that's about drinking and junk food. So yeah, other than making another loaf of this bread, which I sometimes think I'm existing on, I haven't cooked. I apologize.

But I can tell you that I have used the random number generator and came up with winners for part one of the Big Blog Giveaway! YAY!

The first winner, and winner of the pincushion, is cdziuba! She just started blogging at CeeCeeBlogger and I'm excited to see what her blog turns out to be!

The second winner, and winner of the cupcake liner bowls and potholders, is The Blonde Duck! The Blonde Duck is a writer and an all around fun girl who has some pretty interesting stories going on.

So being that I have no recipe for you this week, lets just skip ahead to the prizes I'm giving out this week...

The first prize is this cute set of cupcake kitchen towels, a couple silicone spatulas one of which is emblazoned with cupcakes, and some cute pink cupcake napkins. Hooray for cupcakes.

The second prize is much less girly. It's some bacon and egg band aids, a finger shaped spatula, and some magnetic page holders so you can mark your recipes without slews of post it notes. I figure because I do have some male readers they might appreciate something not pink or semi-ruffly.

The third prize isn't pink, but it's sort of peach and semi-ruffly. It's also not finished. It will be an apron similar to my Christmas/winter apron shown below. It doesn't have the appliqued gingerbread men on it, but it's still very retro and totally cool. You could also check out my everyday apron (as modeled by my lovely mom). Don't worry, if we get the forecasted 10 inches of snow tonight I'll have plenty of time to finish it and I promise to post a photo as soon as it's done!

So there you go! Leave a comment! Let me know if you prefer one or the other prizes. And once again I will use the random number generator to pick the winners next Monday night. Good luck!

Big Blog Giveaway (part one!)

Yes, you read that correctly. This is part one of the BIG BLOG GIVEAWAY! Sorry for the shouting but the phrase big blog giveaway makes me think of Al Roker giving the Sunday football forecast on the Today Show on Fridays.

So I'm now 37 years old. Whoo. Where did the time go? Anywho, to celebrate, I baked 7 dozen cupcakes so I can jazz up a bunch of 7th graders. And because I can't give all of you lovely readers a cupcake I'm having a BIG BLOG GIVEAWAY! And I'm doing it in two parts so that there's plenty of opportunity to win.

Prize #1 is this oh so cute cupcake pincushion that I made just for this giveaway. Yeah, my mom made one for me for Christmas and I decided that it's so cute that I had to give one away. Not the one she made me. I'm using that one. By the way, these are filled with walnut shells to keep the pins sharp, but if you're allergic to nuts that might not be such a good thing.

Prize #2 is this cute set of cupcake potholders and cupcake liner bowls. I saw these and thought that perhaps some of you happy cupcake bakers might really like them.

So yeah that's it for part one. But I'll be announcing part two next Tuesday. How do you win one of these fun prizes? Well leave a comment and let me know which prize you would prefer. That's it. Super easy. And on Monday night I will have the random number generator pick out the winners. SO you have until 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time on Monday January 26th to leave a comment.

Coffee Break Muffins

Today I was struck by the inexplicable urge to make muffins. I don't usually eat muffins, but I recently won Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours from CB's blogaversary giveaway and I'm still trying to figure out how to plan my schedule so that I eat on a fairly regular basis throughout the busy busy day instead of consuming the contents of my fridge in one fell swoop when I finally get home at night. So I was thinking maybe muffins might be something I can eat while I'm running from one school to the next. (Which, by the way, if you are at all interested in my reflections and thoughts on schools that I go to or teach I have a new blog that I had to start for a class.)

I usually avoid muffins because really they're a baby step away from cake and eating cake on a regular basis makes me fat. Really. I have the metabolism of a sloth. You know those furry things that live in trees in the jungle and move soooo slooooow that nobody really notices them. Yeah I have a metabolism like that. But, these muffins seem to be a little on the lighter side.

There's no milk in them either (which is a big plus in our little house). Instead these wonderfully tasty muffins use coffee for the liquid and have an extra little shot of espresso just to ramp up the coffee flavor. Yeah, I adjusted the recipe to add just a little more espresso. I figure these muffins might help me stay awake on the long drive back home at night. And because I've heard that protein helps people feel full, I added some walnuts. And Holy Moly! These muffins are really great! They form a nice little crust that gets a little bit of crunch to it. I think I might enjoy my running around when I get a muffin like this to snack on. I'm so glad I won this cookbook! If you don't already own it you should go buy it.

And don't forget to check back on Tuesday for the Big Blog Giveaway! There's going to be some cool stuff.

Coffee Break Muffins

adapted a touch from Baking From My Home to Yours

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp instant espresso powder

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup strong coffee, cooled

1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fit 12 molds in a regular size muffin tin with paper cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making sure there are no lumps. In another bowl, stir together the coffee, butter, egg and vanilla until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Do not over mix. Fold in the walnuts.

Divide the batter among the 12 cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack.